The votes are in and America has made its choice: The Town of Minturn, CO has the best public restroom in all the land! The restroom that resembles a passageway into a Rocky Mountain mine defeated a strong field of finalists in the 14th annual contest.
Officials in Minturn wanted to create functional art, and it took a committed team to make the project a reality. The local planning commission, town council, carpenters, public works department, concrete workers, steel artists, and plumbers worked together to create an impressive “potty” for the town to celebrate.
Town Planner Janet Hawkinson worked with LaN Live Architecture Network, Boulder, and LGM 3D Printing and Modeling Services, Minturn, to create the bathrooms using state-of-the-art 3-D printing, according to The Post Independent. The interior of the bathrooms resembles a narrow passageway down a mine, a nod to the town’s history as well as a functional piece of public art. In order to make the project work within Minturn’s tight budget of about $100,000, LGM called in an intern, local high school student and Minturn native Mason Vance, who donated his time. Eagle County also provided grant money.
“Making the humble public restroom into functional art was both a design challenge and a joy,” said Hawkinson. “We are gratified to be recognized for achieving that and for creating a project that reflects the uniqueness of the community.”
Cintas’ Assistant Marketing Manager Jillian Bauer visited Minturn earlier this week to present Mayor Hawkeye Flaherty with the award.
“We’re excited to announce the Town of Minturn public restrooms as the 2015 Cintas’ America’s Best Restroom,” said Bauer. “The town rallied together and showed the value of a restroom that’s creative and memorable for guests.”
At the celebration announcing the award, which included a toilet paper salute, Mayor Flaherty thanked everyone who helped create the restrooms. “Hopefully it will be a nice place to come and contemplate, as you sit for a few minutes, on how your day is going,” he told the crowd. “Enjoy them!”
As the 2015 winner, the Town of Minturn receives a $2,500 credit to spend on Cintas services like restroom cleaning and supplies, Signature Series restroom dispensers, cleaning chemicals or wet mops for their restroom floors. The top three finalists win a complimentary Deep Clean of their restroom.
The 2015 contest attracted nominations from a wide range of businesses, including a wine bar, art museum, underground salt mine and a nursing suite inside a baseball stadium. Cintas selected the 10 finalists based on cleanliness, visual appeal, innovation, functionality and unique design elements. When the votes were tallied, America chose The Music Hall in Portsmouth, NH as the number two place “to go,” while Charleston Distilling in Charleston, SC took third place.
Cintas launched the America’s Best Restroom Contest in 2002 to honor businesses across the country that consider hygiene and style top priorities. Minturn has now secured its place in the Cintas’ America’s Best Restroom Hall of Fame. To view photos of previous winners, visit the America’s Best Restroom Hall of Fame on the contest website at www.bestrestroom.com.
Know of an award-worthy restroom? To nominate a potty for next year’s contest, go here.
